<p>I'm going to be a freshman at Pitt this fall. I can exempt out of Seminar in Composition if I get a 5 on my AP lit exam. I'm not sure what my score is yet but if I do... </p>
<p>Is it a good idea to exempt out of Seminar in Composition? I am still not too confident in my writing. Is it a hard class?</p>
<p>If you get a 5 on your AP Lit exam (heck, if you even get a 3!) you should be WELL prepared in your writing skills. If you are exempt, I would say don’t take the class- it’ll free up time in your schedule for an elective. Plus, I always hear that composition classes are the worst - people never seem to like it.</p>
<p>Although I am an incoming freshman as well, I too would suggest that you exempt out of the class. Whenever I have talked about first year writing classes with students (from Pitt, UVA, etc.), they have all said that they really disliked the course. I’m sure that if you got a 5 on the exam, you are proficient enough that you don’t need to take the class. You’ll pick up better writing skills by doing work in more advanced classes, most likely.</p>
<p>If you can write a coherent essay, then you do not need to take this class–believe me.</p>
<p>Exempt. Never took AP English either, never taken this…</p>
<p>^Did you take the AP english exam, though?</p>
<p>^Nope, haven’t taken AP English or AP English exam or anything related. I took Phil 322 (writing course and phil requirement), Englit 300 (creative expression requirement and writing course) and will take Experimental Economics (econ requirement and writing course). So I asked the Dean to cut a brotha a break and he did.</p>
<p>^Haha, lucky you. I wish I had done the same.</p>
<p>If you place out of the introductory composition course, you still have to take two writing intensive classes. So you will get plenty of practice writing. See the second paragraph, below:</p>
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<p>[General</a> Education Requirements](<a href=“http://www.as.pitt.edu/undergraduate/requirements/gened.html]General”>http://www.as.pitt.edu/undergraduate/requirements/gened.html)</p>
<p>I took Seminar in Comp last semester. It was pretty straightforward. I only took Honors English in high school but as long as you write coherent, decent papers and meet the length requirement, etc you shouldn’t have a problem getting any less than a B. It really depends who you have a teacher for the grading but I think the average grade is like a high/middle B. It’s about a 4-5 page paper a week regardless the teacher though. Some of your grade is class discussion and going to class so even if you arent the best writer you can do well. I would take the exemption though. The class can be annoying with the papers whose topids can be random and you really dont learn anything so you wont be behind.</p>
<p>I personally enjoyed the class but I think part of it was because of my instructor and the other part was my attitude. I wasn’t exempt from it because I took the IB English exam and not the AP Lit. I went in feeling confident about my writing but I still was able to learn alot thanks to my instructor’s detailed feedback.</p>
<p>And it’s not a hard class. It just involved alot of writing and peer feedback/discussion.</p>
<p>If you received a 5 on the AP Lit exam then, as others said, you should be well-prepared in your writing skills. I would take the exemption if you want to free up your schedule for other classes and you feel confident enough in your writing abilities. If you don’t, however, don’t be afraid to take the class. At the very least you should learn a good couple ways to improve your writing from either your instructor or your peers (and there’s always room for improvement).</p>